cream puffs plus girl talk

equals perfectly spent Friday afternoon! Thank you Ms. Connie! Here is the recipe for you. They are so easy to make and oh-so-yummy!

Puffs:
1 cup of flour
1 cup of water ( I use a tiny bit less)
100 g of butter (a little less than one stick for those metric-system-impaired)
4 eggs
a pinch of salt

Filling:
heavy whipping cream
sugar to taste

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 390 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter it and rinse with water (my method).

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and sift the flour directly into the pan. Stir the mixture into a paste with a wooden spoon. Return the pan to a medium heat. Stir the mixture until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny, about 3 minutes.

Transfer the paste to a medium bowl, and beat with a wooden spoon until slightly cooled, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one thoroughly before adding the next. Before adding the last egg, beat it in a small bowl. Adding it by tablespoons to the mixture, just until the batter is smooth and tight. If the batter starts to get loose, do not add all of the last egg.
Using a large spoon  form the dough into the mounds on prepared baking sheet. You can use a pastry bag to do it to - I prefer a rustic, spoon method - less to clean :).
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown and the puffs are light, airy, and crisp. It may take a little longer (up to 40 min) depending on the size of your spoon :D and thickness of the dough. Cool on a rack.
In the meantime beat the whipping cream on high with your mixer. When almost done add a little bit of sugar ( I add about a teaspoon per pint of cream). Ready.
Cut the puffs and fill with cream. Sprinkle with a little bit of powdered sugar and voilà!

I make about 25 puffs from this recipe and they disappear the same day!

Enjoy!